G-P shareholders OK company split; IPO set

ATLANTA – The board of Georgia-Pacific Corp. voted Tuesday to separate the company’s lucrative consumer products business into a new company and sell some of its shares to the public.

Georgia-Pacific will continue as a building products and distribution firm, with annual sales of about $13 billion.

The IPO is scheduled for the third quarter. It will involve 15 percent to 20 percent of the new company, which has yearly sales of more than $12 billion from brands such as Angel Soft and Quilted Northern bathroom tissue and Brawny paper towels. G-P’s Old Town mill produces paper towels, napkins and bathroom tissue.

Atlanta-based Georgia-Pacific will use the funds from the sale to pay off debt and distribute the remaining shares to its shareholders next year.